


Hold On With Both Hands

by mango22



Category: The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Post-Season/Series 01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-24
Updated: 2017-11-24
Packaged: 2019-02-06 08:06:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12813219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mango22/pseuds/mango22
Summary: Karen visits Frank after one of his therapy sessions, with a bouquet of white roses.





	Hold On With Both Hands

He stepped outside after his group therapy session and came to a stop as he saw Karen standing at the entrance of the building.

 

A bouquet of roses in her hands, a tentative smile on her face, and the ever present look of wary hope in her eyes.

 

Frank took slow, steady steps towards her until he was close enough to see the color bloom on her cheeks due to harsh November winds.

 

_Or maybe it was being near him again._

 

“Hey.” He said, a little breathless, voice coming out hoarse.

 

“Hey.”

 

“Let me guess, David?”

 

She shrugged. “I found Micro before, finding David wasn’t too hard. And he found Frank Castle before, Pete Castiglione was no big deal.”

 

He chuckled. “Ms. Page, resourceful as ever. Are those for me?” he pointed at the flowers.

 

She handed them to him and smirked. “I’m an old fashioned kind of woman.”

 

“Thank you Karen.” He said softly.

 

She nodded in response and looked down at her shoes, not knowing how to proceed. Frank didn’t say anything either; for a while they stood together in silence, watching the snow fall around them.

 

“How’ve you been?” she finally asked.

 

“Good. I’m doing…good.”

 

She inhaled deeply, opened her mouth, and then closed it again. What she wanted to ask him was why he didn’t reach out to her if he was getting better?

 

Was she not important enough? Was she associated with bad memories he was trying to forget? Was she not meant to be a part of his ‘after’?

 

Maybe it was all of those.

 

Or maybe, _maybe,_ her treacherous heart whispered, it was none of them. And he’s just as afraid of opening himself again to something new as she was.

When you’ve suffered so much loss, it was natural to embrace the loneliness. Perhaps it was time to let go.

 

“Frank,” she whispered as she closed the distance between them, “I don’t want to be alone anymore.”

 

She wrapped her arms around him and held him just as tightly as she had all those weeks ago, when she was scared he would disappear if she blinked.

 

The thought still plagued her but a second later she heard Frank mumble into her shoulder, “Neither do I.”  

 

She pulled back and looked at him with renewed hope glinting in her eyes. His expression mirrored hers and in the moment she wanted to kiss him, leaning forward with purpose.

 

In the end she simply pressed her lips to his cheek, his skin somehow warm despite the freezing temperatures.

 

They had a long road ahead of them, but as long as they held on with both hands, they would be fine.

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> i just wanted an excuse to write karen bringing him flowers and giving him a cheek kiss and also them not being alone for the holidays <3 hope you liked!


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